The Rajasthan Government is soon going to amend the Rajasthan Prisoners on Parole Rules, 1958, in order to release inmates who have been granted parole in the past.

On March 23, the Supreme Court told the states to form a committee under the chairman of State Legal Services Authority and including principal secretary of the home department and director-general of jails, to decide on prisoners who could be released on parole or interim bail to decongest jails.

According to the apex court’s order, prisoners facing a sentence of seven years or less, or undertrials facing trial in offences that are punishable with a sentence of seven years or less may be considered for a release.

Director-General, prisons, NRK Reddy said that following the orders of the Supreme Court, the high power committee had a meeting on Wednesday.

“In order to implement the decision of the top court, the government is going to amend the parole rules and is planning to add provisions of extraordinary parole so that the inmates who have been granted parole in the past could be released on parole again,” the prisons department chief told.

Reddy added that according to Rajasthan Prisoners on Parole Rules, 1958, a prisoner who has completed with remission, if any, one-fourth of his sentence and subject to good conduct in the Jail, may be released on first parole for 20 days including days of journey to home and back, and for 30 days on second parole provided his behaviour has been good during first parole and for 40 days on third parole provided his behaviour has been good during the second parole.

“Once the rules are amended, those who have been given parole three times in the past and whose behaviour was good, can be given parole for four weeks. We have prepared a list of 1300 such people. However, the decision to give parole will be taken by the government,” the DG, prisons said.

Reddy further said that the jails are not overcrowded. “Our occupancy rate is only 91.47%. In March, around 2,000 inmates were shifted to other jails where occupancy is low so that social distancing could be maintained”.

Also, Rajasthan High Court, in suo moto versus State DB Civil Writ Petition, had ordered the registrar judicial to not list bails, appeals, applications for suspension of sentence in appeals and revisions in the category of “extreme urgent matters”.

In the past also, the prisons department had taken multiple steps to contain the spread of coronavirus as a result of which till April 9, no inmate was found positive.

The prisons department had done 100% screening of the inmates and also interviewed them to know their travel history.

The department had also created two new wards and one isolation ward. Every inmate coming from outside is initially kept in the new ward where he is kept under observation of doctors for three days and after clearance, they are sent to their normal wards. Also, the isolation ward is kept for suspects.

All meetings between prisoners and their relatives in the jails have been stopped to avoid any spread of novel coronavirus. If necessary, a mobile or landline phone would be made available to needy prisoners, the officer said.